A Missoula mom’s protest over ‘see-through’ shorts at the local J. C. Penney store has resulted in the corporate management pulling the items out of the swimwear departments all over the country.

On the KGVO Radio Talk Back show early in the week, Kathy Armstrong said she was shopping for swimming trunks for her 11 year-old son.

“I was at the register to buy them , when a clerk stopped me and pointed out that when the bathing suit gets wet, it basically becomes ‘see-through’, so you see everything! I was there with my 11 year-old son and I was absolutely appalled as you can imagine,” Armstrong said.

She and several other moms in the area then contacted the manager, Bradley Auch, with their protest.

This reporter visited the store and photographed the Arizona brand surf shorts and the tag stating ‘SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK,’ and that ‘they are not meant for swimming.’

photo by Peter Christian

“On a positive note, the manager, Brad, wrote to J. C. Penney corporate headquarters regarding the complaint.. So its very exciting that by standing up collectively, we can all make a difference, and that morals and values do matter,” Armstrong concluded.

Here is the note the store manager sent to Ms. Armstrong:

Subject: Surf-Inspired Short

Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:49:17 +0000

Kathleen,

My note has been forwarded to the Sr. Buyer. In the mean time they are working with the set team to move the Surf-Inspired Short out of the swim department in every store across the company. They have also stated that the sheerness issue in those shorts is only affected in the shorts with white stripes. The non-white shorts have no see-though issues. For consistency, every color received the tag stating not intended for swimming. This is all I’ve heard back from at this point.

Have a great week!

Bradley Auch

Store Leader

Missoula, MT

Store # 1981

It should be noted, that the shorts are not being totally removed from the stores, just out of the swimwear departments.

Missoula mom Kathy Armstrong

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Welcome back to KYSS Corral

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on .
To keep your personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you.
To activate your account, please confirm your password.
When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

*Please note that your prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network.

Welcome back to KYSS Corral

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://kyssfm.com using your original account information.